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La Cruz Del Diablo, Puta De La SierraMexico, Sonora

Miguel “Mike” Noriega, of Hermosillo, Sonora, and I had not previously met in person when I pickedhim up in Tucson. With only a few messages online, we hatched a plan to head into the mountains ofnortheastern Sonora and hopefully establish a new route in a canyon known as La Cruz del Diablo,near the town of Huásabas. This canyon has many large cliffs composed of what I believe isrhyolite. To our knowledge, climbers had not touched La Cruz, although the canyon had seen a fewtechnical descents.

Upon arrival on December 19, we scanned the different areas and chose a line on what is likely thetallest cliff, a 200m south-facing wall on the north side of the head of La Cruz. We started from theground up, placing gear and bolting from free stances for the first two pitches. After this, concernedabout loose rock, we hiked to the top of the cliff and rappelled in, bolting the upper three pitches onrappel while cleaning the whole route and adding a few bolts to the first two pitches. Each night, afterclimbing, we would drive into the nearby twin pueblos of Huásabas and Granados to gorge ourselveson momias (hot dogs wrapped in tortillas wrapped in bacon) and charge the drill battery.

On our third day of climbing, December 22, we started from the ground and freed all five pitches. Theroute is visible from the viewpoint next to the road, and we were intermittently cheered on by localswho had stopped to watch. We call our route Puta de la Sierra (600’, 5.11), after a humorous, doctoredroad sign we found along the nearby highway.

While parts of the climb could be protected with traditional gear, the majority could not, so we madethe decision to bolt the entire route. We wanted to make a route that local Sonoran climbers wouldwant to and be able to climb. Unfortunately, we only had 50 bolts (all stainless) so there are somerunouts on the easier (5.9 and below) sections. Those solid at the 5.11 grade should feel comfortablewithout any gear, but less experienced climbers may want a single rack of cams from 0.5 to 5 inchesto supplement the bolts.

La Cruz del Diablo has a massive amount of rock, with much more potential for new routes. Theredefinitely are large, chossy sections, but also many areas of immaculate steep rock. Driving acrossSonora, we were impressed by the vast potential for future climbing; currently, the only otherdevelopment has taken place at a few nice sport crags close to the capital, Hermosillo.

Kevin Kent, USA

Images

Descending into La Cruz del Diablo.

Brightly colored rhyolite walls of La Cruz del Diablo.

En route on Puta de la Sierra (600’, 5.11).

Miguel “Mike” Noriega following a pitch high on the route.

Kevin Kent and Miguel “Mike” Noriega celebrate at an overlook above La Cruz del Diablo.

The new route Puta de la Sierra (600’, 5.11), located on a prominent south-facing wall of the La Cruzdel Diablo canyon in Sonora.

Article Details

Author Kevin Kent

Publication AAJ

Volume 58

Issue 90

Page 188

Copyright Date 2016

Article Type Climbs and expeditions